Nearly every state has seen an increase in heroin addiction cases as addicts are switching from costly and hard to come by prescription drugs to heroin.

Across the country heroin abuse and addiction cases are on the rise. While many people are aware of the country’s escalating prescription drug problem, heroin use, abuse and addiction problems have not received the same coverage. In Arizona, the increase in heroin overdose deaths has risen by ninety percent over the past decade. Prescription drug addiction is considered to be the present gateway to heroin addiction. This is because heroin is cheaper, and in some areas of the country easier to obtain. Due to prescription opioid medications being harder to obtain legally or on the street many addicts are making the switch to heroin to satisfy their addiction.

Heroin overdose deaths are claiming more lives with each passing year. The drug if often extremely pure or laced with other powerful narcotics and the user is often unaware of exactly what they are taking. Additionally, many overdose deaths have been connected with user’s having a low tolerance for the drug after completing rehab and unintentionally taking more than their bodies can tolerate. Addiction to this dangerous drug is happening all across the country. Middle-class suburban families who once felt “safe” are now struggling with the nightmare of their son’s or daughter’s heroin addiction.

The greatest increase in heroin addiction cases are among young adults between the ages of eighteen to twenty-five. In 2007, it was estimated that there were 373,000 heroin users in the United States. This number increased to 669,000 by 2012 and continues to rise. First time users of the drug nearly doubled over a six-year period (2006-2012) from 90,000 users to an estimated 156,000 users.

In Ohio, hospitals have experienced many “drive-up, drop-off” cases of heroin overdose victims. Users are dropped off at state hospitals where medical staffers have to work quickly to assess and treat the individual. Due to so many of these cases, staffers have become quick and efficient at delivering a dose of naloxone (an opiate-reversing drug) to patients. While many heroin overdose patients are revived, some have to be put on ventilators and there are those who do not make it; succumbing to death brought on by their heroin overdose.

Despite the fact that some states are so inundated with heroin addiction cases that they have a six month wait list, help is always available at Narconon Fresh Start. Our skilled staff members are able to assess and begin a treatment plan with you or your loved one and start the process of recovery. At Narconon Fresh Start, program participants overcome their addiction issues while regaining a sense of self-control, personal responsibility and the skills they need to end their addiction and be successful in their lives.